CMH services restored for some clients

A state administrative judge has sided with about half of 30 people with disabilities who say their services were illegally cut by a St. Joseph County agency.

By Jef RietsmaJournal Correspondent

A state administrative judge has sided with about half of 30 people with disabilities who say their services were illegally cut by a St. Joseph County agency.

Appeals filed by clients of the Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services of St. Joseph County were represented by Farmington Hills attorney Patricia Kefalas-Dudek, an authority on disability rights.

At issue was the number of hours for activities, co-op employment opportunities and other services for CMHSAS clients who are mentally or physically compromised. A number of those clients were served by Michigan Agency with Choice. The Sturgis agency has terminated its contract and the agreement with CMHSAS will end in early June.

Kefalas-Dudek said CMHSAS staff and board members insisted over the course of several months that the cuts were appropriate.

“It was always exceedingly clear that the cuts were illegally handled,” Kefalas-Dudek said in a press statement. “The fact that board members blindly followed their leader, at the expense of the people they are supposed to protect, is deeply troubling.”

CMHSAS board president Barb Parker was not available for comment Tuesday.

Liz O’Dell, CMHSAS executive director, said the matter was handled by Kalamazoo County CMH attorney Michael Schlack. Because the situation involved Medicaid dollars, the Centreville-based CMH agency that services St. Joseph County was not part of the hearings.

The remaining dozen cases will be reviewed soon.

“I have maintained it was up to our Kalamazoo attorney all along to make decisions, and Kalamazoo in their review of utilization management agreed the services in question were not medically necessary,” O’Dell said, adding that the cuts were not made illegally, contrary to what is alleged.

The initial review of the situation sided with CMH, but those decisions were then appealed, resulting in the latest development.

O’Dell said she respects the judge’s decision and, as she has long maintained, CMHSAS will follow the direction of the judge.

“Our focus of providing the best service possible to our clients will not change,” she said.

John Carmichael, director of business development for the parent company of Michigan Agency With Choice, said it is his understanding that clients affected by the cut in hours will be able to resume their previously allocated hours.

“‘Happy’ may not really be the right word, because I think it’s a shame this ever took place,” he said. “A lot of damage was done in the process.”